IZHEVSK, January 16. /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian Kalashnikov Concern has signed an agreement with the United States and Canada on exports of up to 200,000 units of Kalashnikov rifles per year, the press service of the Kalashnikov Concern told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

The agreement was signed with the Russian Weapons Company (RWC) in the framework of the Shot Show 2014 exhibition which has been held in Las Vegas.

"The "RWC" as an exclusive dealer with the Kalashnikov Concern will help the Kalashnikov Concern carry on a consistent policy in the field of sale of sporting and hunting rifles in North America. We expect this cooperation to increase the "Kalashnikov"s share on the biggest market of civilian weapons in the world," said "Kalashnikov"s Deputy director general for sale and marketing policies Pavel Kolegov, commenting on the deal with the North American partners.

The agreement envisages that "RWC" has an exclusive right to deliver sporting and hunting rifles of "Izhmash" and "Baikal" brands, produced by the enterprises of the Kalashnikov concern, for five years.

Spokeswoman for the Kalashnikov Concern Yelena Filatova specified that the volume of exports are to make up from 80,000 to 200,000 units per year. The "RWC" is to carry out all the operations to promote the Kalashnikov products on the market and ensure their maintenance and guarantee servicing, she told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

The Kalashnikov Group is an association of the largest companies in the Russian small arms industry. The corporation was founded on the basis of Izhmash and the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant. In future, the Vyatsko-Polyansky Engineering Plant - "Molot", the Koshkin Automatic Lines Design Bureau and NITI Progress will join the Kalashnikov Concern.

The corporation is the largest Russian manufacturer of military-grade automatic and sniper weapons as well as guided artillery shells. It also produces a wide range of civilian products, including hunting rifles, sporting rifles, machine tools and tools.

Their products are currently in use in 27 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Italy, Canada, Kazakhstan, Thailand.